BBPA: English Tourism Week 2012 ‘great opportunity’ for pubs

19-Oct-2011 - Last updated on 20-Oct-2011 at 11:56 GMT

Simmonds was supporting the launch of English Tourism Week at the annual national conference of Visitor Attractions in London

British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) chief executive Brigid Simmonds has urged brewers and pubs to get Behind English Tourism Week next year.

Simmonds, who is also chairman of the Tourism Alliance, supported English Tourism Week - which runs from 10-18 March - at the annual national conference of Visitor Attractions in London, also attended by tourism minister John Penrose.

“English Tourism Week is a great opportunity for brewers and pubs just how vital we are to the tourism sector,” she said. “Our fantastic range of beers and pubs are a huge draw, with around 13 million tourist visits to pubs every year.”

With a year packed full of iconic events including the London 2012 Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the final of the Cultural Olympiad, English Tourism Week provides the perfect opportunity to showcase the vitality of beer and pubs to the tourism economy.

“Tourism is a key element supporting the one million jobs that depend on the beer and pub sector,” Simmonds added. “With the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and Paralympics, 2012 couldn’t be a better year to showcase our role. Let’s use English Tourism week to highlight these strengths.”

This year, VisitBritain stepped down from leading the traditional British Tourism Week initiative. National tourism is now led by separate tourist organisations from each of the home nations.

Full details of how all tourism businesses can get involved in English Tourism week are available on the Visit England website www.visitengland.org.